Europe's Scariest Chart Just Got Scarier

The last time we plotted European youth unemployment in what was dubbed "Europe's scariest chart" we were surprised to discover that when it comes to "Arab Spring inspiring" youth unemployment, Spain was actually worse off than even (now officially broke) Greece, whose young adult unemployment at the time was only just better compared to that... of the United States. Luckily, following the latest economic (yes, we laughed too) update from Greece, it is safe to say that things are back to normal, as Greek youth unemployment is officially the second one in Europe after Spain to surpass 50%. In other words, Europe's scariest chart just got even scarier.

And so while the Greek economy is in tatters, following another downward revision to its GDP as reported last week, this time dragging Q4 GDP from -7.0% to -7.5%, that's only the beginning, and it now appears that a terminal collapse of not just the Greek financial sector, but its society as well, has commenced, as the number of people unemployed in the 11 million person country is now 41% greater than its was a year ago. From Athens News:

The average unemployment rate for 2011 jumped to 17.3 percent from 12.5 percent in the previous year, according to the figures, which are not adjusted for seasonal factors.

Youth were particularly hit. For the first time on record, more people between 15-24 years were without a job than with one. Unemployment in that age group rose to 51.1 percent, twice as high as three years ago.

Budget cuts imposed by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund as a condition for dealing with the country's debt problems have caused a wave of corporate closures and bankruptcies.

Greece's economy is estimated to have shrunk by a about a fifth since 2008, when it plunged into its deepest and longest post-war recession. About 600,000 jobs, more than one in ten, have been destroyed in the process.

Things will get worse before they get better, according to analysts. "Despite some emergency government measures to boost employment in early 2012, it is hard to see how the upward unemployment trend can be stabilised in the first half of the year," said Nikos Magginas, an economist at National Bank of Greece.

A record 1,033,507 people were without work in December, 41 percent more than in the same month last year. The number of people in work dropped to a record low of 3,899,319, down 7.9 percent year-on-year.

When will the Greeks ask themselves if the complete and utter destruction of their society is worth it, just to pretend that life as a European colony is worth living. Especially now that pension funds have been vaporized?

According to me, the world is being prepared, at so many levels it boggles the mind, for a massive, irreversible paradigm shift.

Here is the key:

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The average unemployment rate for 2011 jumped to 17.3 percent from 12.5 percent in the previous year, according to the figures, which are not adjusted for seasonal factors.

Youth were particularly hit. For the first time on record, more people between 15-24 years were without a job than with one.Unemployment in that age group rose to 51.1 percent, twice as high as three years ago."

What do dis-affected youth, who are told that their conditions are someone else's fault do? They want to fight. And the fight can happen in the streets or wearing nice uniforms on the battlefields springing up like so many daisies in this Springtime from Hell(enia).

I would not be surprised at all if MMORPG war games are fertile recruitment grounds for what is straight ahead.

Yeah, there are plenty of these "Infinite efficiency" designs. But they function only and at best in the nano-realm, which is just a factor of 10^9 too small compared to applications that suit hoomans.

A game changing new energy source is nothing to smirk at though... and it's out as early as May. I knew there was a reason the governments kept pouring money - they had this gift up their sleeves all along and didn't want to disappoint us all.

That link seems very much like "zero point energy". There are LED resonant systems out there with claims of creating energy. It is either wrong, or we are on the cusp of a new discovery in physics (or both, but not neither)

The free market says oil, and at what cost? for God's sake if we would stop the useless wars that cost Trillions of $$$, and put that to R&D we'd be way ahead! But,... the free markets and Washington like the fucking prehistoric fuel. They like Uranium "Melt-Up/Down" Power? We don't need lithium we can go with Ni-Cad Batteries and have every vehicle coming off the assembley lines a hy-brid. Wake-up!!!

This is a NATIONAL SECUIRTY PROBLEM, period. Repeat after me: National Security Problem,... again, National Security Problem!

Nat-Gas is here to stay, and we own it! Yes,... we controll our destiny, not some mullah 3,000 miles away that wants our National Treasures, but also to bankrupt us! Wake-up AMERICA!!!

What happened to the R&D from Europe and Japan? They aren't involved in useless wars and they are just as dependent on oil. Why aren't Europe and Japan rolling 100% of their cars off the assembly line as hybrids?

You want to use all the natgas for cars? Then what's going to run those power plants that were built to use natgas? We're using oil because it's cheaper. Try switching 100 million cars to Ni-Cad and the cost of batteries will drive car prices up to $100K each.

Speaking of video games... when the highly anticipated 'Modern Warfare 3' was being pumped up by the media and had hollywood st*rs in commericals ie. Johan Hill (who btw sucked last night on SNL)... it has a huge cult following - and therefore is a big mind control tool.

The one main MSM commerical if you may recall at the end when it displays 'MW3' - it first shows 'WW3' - than the 1st 'W' flips over to show the 'M'. Why would they need to do that - show WW3 than MW3 if it wasnt for a reason.

Along this line of thinking, the Chinese have an excess of some millions of males (due to the preference for male babies and perhaps infanticide of female babies). Excess males are ripe for enlistment with hopes of testosterone surges, raping and pillaging.

So true. I used to get high as shit in the morning and read the business section of the newspaper before school. One day it hit me, "Why does weed cost as much as gold?". That's when and why I started buying gold. Thanks weed!

the weed may calm them down on the outside but the reason they tried to ban it is because often people who smoke it begin to mock, laugh and generally stop caring about Babylon. Double edged sword as far as the powers that be are concerned.

Even during the great depression the football stadiums and movie theatres were full while there was 25% unemployment. The other 75% were still working and have money. That doesn't mean everything is fine.

Madrid is a city of 3.3 million people. If 1 million people are unemployed, there are still 2 million people to shop. Of course the central shopping district will be full, especially when it is a tourist attraction. That's like going to Vegas and staying on the Strip and claiming the economy in that city is just fine because there are tens of thousands of people walking around. The official unemployment rate there is 12.4% and the U-6 is over 20%.

Vinny Gambini: [Vinny and Lisa receive their breakfast orders, Vinny looks at his skeptically] Whats this over here? Grits Cook: You never heard of grits? Vinny Gambini: Sure I've heard of grits. I just never actually *seen* a grit before.

The reason most folks don't like grits is because it is rarely prepared properly. It must be cooked very slowly with lots of water - at least 4 to 1. There is no such thing as quick grits. That's just a Madison Ave creation. And it always ends up lumpy and tasting "gritty." Properly prepared grits are smooth and creamy. Just blend in some real butter and enjoy! Anyone who has tasted properly prepared grits knows what I'm talking about.

1. a. A Native American people formerly inhabiting a large area of Colorado, Utah, and northern New Mexico, with present-day populations in northeast Utah and along the Colorado-New Mexico border.
b. A member of this people.
2. The Uto-Aztecan language of the Ute.
(Engineering / Automotive Engineering) Austral and NZinformal short for utilityAustralia and New Zealand

In Australia and New Zealand, the term 'Ute' (short for 'coupe utility') is most commonly used to describe a pickup truck. The Ute is considered an Australian / New Zealand icon since the coupe utility was originally invented there by Lewis Thornet Bandt in 1933 and were first built by Ford Australia in Geelong and were based on their 1934 V-8 Coupe. A prior patent application in 1929 by James Freeland Leacock describes a vehicle which some people claim to be the first "Ute' but it does not comply with the accepted definition of a "Ute" (and was never built anyway).[15][citation needed]

Holden and Ford are the two most popular Ute makers in Australia and New Zealand, with their best selling models only sold in Australasia. Australasia also has a big market for muscle trucks (see above) with the AustralianHSV Maloo being the fastest currently in production.[16]

Australians define a "ute" as any commercial vehicle that has an open cargo carrying space, but requires only a passenger car license to drive. This includes coupé utilities, pickup trucks and traybacks (flatbed pickup trucks). An example of the broadness of this definition is that anything from a Ford F250 XL to a Proton Jumbuck can be called a ute.

People over 35 are easier to control as they have families and don't want to rock the boat. The useful idiot youth have nothing to lose. Most likely they will use the useful idiots as a hammer to kill off the elderly, who truly are useless to them. The they will pit the youth against each other in wars to cull the herd.

Some people are going to deny what is happening until the very end. Deep down they know it's bad but they choose to bury it. The best you can do is educate yourself and quietly prepare to protect and provide for you and your family. A lot of us have the same problem you described. When it comes to bad news I just keep it to myself because my wife doesn't want to hear it either. A lot of my friends know its bad but then they have the " what can I do about it attitude ?". So I just find like minded people and prep away.

OT - what we need is a prepper's dating site. Wait, are there any women preppers? Well, anyway - we could all use pictures like Ahmeexnal's avatar and say things about ourselves like; don't worry, the smell of smoke and bacon grease on my oilskin jacket masks the fact I haven't bathed in a while. lol - sorry - cracking myself up.

I am serious about the doomers dating site though. Ok, not doomers but how about awake and aware. Hell, how about this. Ask one question to qualify to get on to this dating site: Was 9/11 an inside job? That's it. You are in if you answer correctly! Come on. Someone? Anyone? Wait, I'm married still....

I'm very smart by regular standards. I used to test 142-148, which is about one in 500 people according to the bell distribution. Although not autistic by any means, my brain just sponges up academic content, correlates it and integrates it in a consistent whole very easily. Great for taking in relatively detailed overviews of broad areas of knowledge and quickly extracting understanding, i.e. systemic analysis.

However I wouldn't actually define myself as "smart". Just endowed with more rational analysis skills than normal. My creativity is stunted and I feel that my emotional intelligence is quite lacking. A 10 year old can probably express his feelings better than me be it in poetry or art. I've often met totally regular people (I'd estimate between 80 and 120 IQ) that looked at a basic situation we had in front of us and would say intuitively, "Oh, no worries, let's just do that" and bang comes the solution, while I was still out overthinking and trying to come up with something that would do the trick.

I now understand that rote learning and manipulation of information (external knowledge, "intelligence") and integration of intuition, understanding and personal experience (wisdom) are two altogether different things. You're right that the western understanding of intelligence can only be saved by scrapping it.

Your definition in bold is also very good. Eastern philosophies recognize intelligence as a wordless wisdom, a consciousness simply looking at a situation and intuitively knowing the answer from within. Originality, creativity, and instant reaction to the situation (or rather action in the moment) are key factors. I've been trying to access this part of my psyche (or rather remove the excess obstructions of an hyperdevelopped mind) through meditation and other techniques (developping previously untouched aspects of my mind, be it poetry, music, dance or other arts) and I have to say that I am moving ahead on that front. Still, even my understanding of wisdom itself is cold, clinical, academic.

You clearly don't have an understanding of IQ tests. IQ tests show a person's ability to create order out of chaos in a timely manner (how quickly you can solve problems or learn). You see the data and you react to it to get the correct answer. The fact is that people who score higher on IQ tests are wealthier than those who score lower.

Had a weird experience with my inlaws a few weeks back. I mentioned that we were out of the markets and cashed out all we could and was buying PMs... later that day, MiL called me on it and I told her our thinking

2 days later FiL mentioned it too - in front of some of their friends - so clearly a nerve had been hit. Turns out Friends son is ready to go off grid entirely.

To all intents and purposes, Inlaws are tea-partiers and retired... but now intrigued

No matter what some fucker that thinks he is smart replies with you can crush their logic with the above. You have 5000 years of history to back you up, the fucker will die with their own wisdom in poverty.

This comes from one who is not a pm basketcase. A little pm in every portfolio can never hurt, if even to flush out the fucker above and keeping ones self from being that fucker.

Pretend you're me. You find this [holds up Fight Club rules]. What would you do?

Me? I'd be very careful who I talked to about this. It sounds like someone dangerous wrote the rules for this club....someone who might snap at any moment, stalking from office to office with an Armalite AR-10 carbon gas semi-automatic, bitterly pumping round after round into colleagues and co-workers.

Might be someone you've known for years....someone very close to you. Or, maybe you shouldn't be bringing me every little piece of trash you pick up.

resurger, your boss clearly feels threatened by your ability to think as well as your refusal to accept faithfully the message that the economy is recovering. It's time to put on the sheep mask for the duration of your employment:

Slave: I saw some guy on CNBC talking about how gold was in a bubble and that equities are a real bargain.

Boss: ...and?

Slave: I remembered what you said about gold and how the economy was going to get better, so I sold all my gold and loaded up on APPL.

Ease her into it. My wife used to think I was going batshit too... Selling my bonds for gold and silver, telling her to stock up the house with food stores etc... But as inflation has appeared in everyday life she's come around to trust me. My next move is to use my 401k as a piggy bank to pay down debt - the idea that made her most uncomfortable of all. Now she embraces the thought. As time goes on, and you are proven right again and again, she may yet turn around.

- Call it an inflation hedge, tell her to stock up now so you won't be paying inflated prices.

- nothing is for certain, we don't know how bad things will get, so don't phrase things as absolutes. I ususlly talk about how bad unemployment, govt. corruption, etc. are, and then casually throw in: but I think there's only a 5-10% chance we'll be shooting each other in the streets for the last can of beans. people laugh and usually say: "I don't think that will happen" to which I reply: "you're right, the probablity is low, and with some simple precuations we could all get through it." Then I go into how my wife buys lots of things when they're on sale and stores them in the rotating shelves and how we save 30% on groceries, and how good my home grown garlic tastes. That gets people interest and they start asking question about what we're doing. We've gotten several of our neighbors growing gardens and rotating food.

Anthropologically, women have a greater need to think that everything is going to be rosy, sweet, and nice (lack of conflict makes it easier to be pregnant and raise kids). Men, on the other hand, are naturally paranoid because being skeptical, wary, and prepared have survival value and keep you from getting eaten, literally or figuratively. Why do you think that the Boy Scout motto is "Be Prepared"?

Valkir if you ever wonder why they don't just have a worldwide default and reset things so we can rebuild and why they kick the can down the road...well you are an example of why. They'd prefer to drag this out cause people to worry about things and usually when people worry they begin to deny and distract themselves. They're hoping to cause as much tension within families a few of us will realize what is going on while the majority go into massive denial. They want to cause as much social damage as they can upon us before they pull the trigger, they're hoping we have nothing left to live for and will follow them. Stay strong brother! Things are catching up to TPTB faster than they can pull us apart...we have to hold out a little while longer.

As another poster said come to ZH make some posts and importantly have some fun too. Just my two cents.

when you're not reading ZH go to your library and find books on subjects you know little about or nothing about and begin to educate yourself. I am retired and that's what I'm doing. Don't waste your money on cirgarettes, alcohol, or drugs. What you save can be used to buy books you can't find at the library. Your new knowledge will become useful in ways you can't immediately imagine. Don't spend too much time worrying about yourself. Depression is a bitch in my experience but it passes, and you can, if you try, get your mind on other things. If you can think of a way to participate in the underground economy, then by all means go for it, as long as the reward significantly outweighs the risk. Good luck to you, Valkir.

Im sure the numbers are no where near that bad when you count the people working in the black market to avoid taxes.

Samething is happening here in the US. Lots of people working for cash under the table.

Doesn't mean what is happening in Greece because of their leaders isn't shameful, but its important to realize its happening on bothsides. The socialists use the unemployment numbers to argue for higher taxes and less austerity. But they fail to realize that on the otherside the higher taxes are forcing businesses to the black market and forcing the entrepreneurs and capitalissts out of the country.

I'm having a vision, it's a bit blurry, but I can still discern an angry youth awakening... disenchanted and feeling betrayed...I see unrest and flames...Blood in the streets of the town of New Haven...

A wave of time ripples through, I now see a solitary individual, corpulent and witless, desperately trying to communicate through its two thumbs....

It is with the latter, I fear, that our fate resides....

The lure of a cheap virtual reality, a poor man's Matrix, will be more than enough to buy off this generation of American youth....

The youth has no guidence. They see their parents as sellouts, or worse, as defeatists, and they see their grandparents as lames. No one knows them, but worse, they never got to know themselves, because the only thing real in their lives is physical pain.

This pain of course has been numbed by drugs since early age. They are all hyperactive and depressed, says the Drs, and so their livers have bared the burden of reality, not their minds.

They missed the last boat to opportunity, says everyone. "Poor, poor boys." But they'll grow up, just as soon as the economy turns around!

So they keep their heads down in their laps, watching the lights flicker on screens, never looking up to watch the real beauty of the stars.

They are the lost boys of the world; never given opportunity and not strong nor smart enough to take it. The deck is stacked against them, and besides, they would rather play a game by themselves, in their room, alone.

The games are preparing them for WWIII. The apps are preparing those who make it back for a retirement where they never leave their houses except to go on dates they have found on line which will be paid for by government stipends dependent on their status as "men of America".

It definately should Zero Debt but the state sponsored school systems in the west have done a good job smashing the concepts of individuality, masculinity, integrity, honour and amongst other things the ability to think logically and rationally. It is not by accident but rather by design that they have tried to destroy the individual and the family. They have attempted to breed lambs thinking we'd be able to socially breed away crime, dirt and all that is nasty with humanity, the only problem is lambs are fit for slaughter and one of the nasty aspects of humanity is that powerful and rich people can often only get off by controlling and killing lambs.